"I am so sorry!", Rory Gilmore said, having already said it a few times before. But Jess Mariano was shaking his head. He couldn't believe that he had let himself believe things were different this time.
"I don't deserve this Rory." She nodded. "I know, you don't deserve this, not any of it. And I'm sorry. I'm just sorry." She couldn't think of anything else to say right now except for that.
"Then why did you come here?", He asked, looking to her for an answer. Rory sighed. "I got the flyer and I wanted to see you and I wanted to read your book. I really wanted to come here. I just…
Jess nodded knowingly. "You weren't expecting me to kiss you." She nodded too. "Yeah. It kinda caught me off guard." He sighed, running a hand through his hair and sitting back down. He looked at her until he forced her with eye contact to come sit as she had been a few moments ago.
"How can you still be with him, knowing that he cheated on you?" Rory sighed. "I don't know. It's…comfortable. I mean, we've been together for awhile and I'm…I guess I'm scared."
Jess didn't say anything at first, not really knowing what he wanted to say to her. When he first saw her standing in his living room, his heart skipped a beat, the way it tended to do whenever she was around. He would be lying if he said he didn't think of her often.
"You've changed.", He finally commented, looking up and into her eyes. She raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?" He stood back up, not really thinking he could say what he wanted to say sitting down.
"The Rory I know and love wouldn't let any man do this to her. She would be strong; she would stand up for what she believes in, which if I remember correctly is monogamy. I mean, I know you believe in second chances, but this is ridiculous! How many times has this guy screwed you over? How many more times are you gonna let him?"
Rory didn't know what to say. She knew that Jess was angry with her for coming here and playing with his heart, and she understood that, she just hadn't expected him to blow up like that. But she deserved it. Everything he said was right.
She hung her head in her hands and felt the tears start to fall. She didn't know what she had been thinking this whole time. Coming down here, she knew she would give Jess the wrong idea. But did he have the wrong idea? Why had she really come down here?
The truth was she did miss Jess. She missed the relationship they had, she missed her friendship with him, and being able to talk to him about anything she wanted, especially writing. That was their common passion, it always would be.
"Jess, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He nodded, sighing. "I know you're sorry. But I don't blame you for coming down here. I missed you." He sat back down across from her, waiting for her to look at him. When she did, he saw the tears in her eyes.
"I don't know what I'm doing anymore, Jess. With me, with Logan, with my life. I don't know what I'm doing anymore." But Jess seemed to think she was wrong, so he shook his head and tilted her chin up with his thumb and forefinger to face him.
"Yes you do. You are the smartest woman I know. It's just that sometimes… people lose their way. But you know who you are, Rory. You know what you wanna do with your life. And you know that you deserve better than a guy who cheats on you and thinks he can get away with it. You shouldn't let him take advantage of what a sweet, caring person you are. Screw second, third, and eighth chances… you deserve better."
She couldn't help but smile in spite of her tears. Jess had always known the right thing to say at exactly the right time. One of his many gifts. And for once, he and her Mother agreed on something. Logan Hunsberger was not the one for her.
"Thank you." He raised his eyebrows. "For what?" Rory smiled. "For telling me what I needed to hear for months. I'm glad I came down here." Jess smiled too and said, "So am I."
She wiped her face and shook her head. "No more sitting around, feeling sorry for myself. I've made up my mind. This is where I wanna be right now. With you." He looked at her as she stood up, as if to underline her statement.
"You really feel that way?" Rory nodded. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't. I think you and I both know that, don't we?" And they did. So he stood up too, and wrapped his arms around her waist.
She wrapped hers around his neck and hugged him. She had been wanting to see him for so long and now he was here, hugging her and it felt great. It felt familiar. It felt right. Definitely where she needed to be.
"Do you wanna go get a drink? I think we could both use one." Rory nodded. "Definitely. I could definitely use a drink." He nodded. "Then let's get outta here." He put his arm around her and led her out of the building.